Conventionally, recording/playback apparatuses such as digital cameras which use memory cards having solid state memory devices as recording media and record and play back still images and moving images have already been on the market, and digital cameras comprising electronic finders such as camera liquid crystal panels have already been on sale.
In addition, there has been a recording/playback apparatus which has a function of recording and playing back, in addition to image data, audio data or the like in a form different from that of image data in association with image data under the same directory structure as that of the image data or independently of the image data (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-223401).
In such a conventional recording/playback apparatus such as a digital camera, even when a user wants to search either image data or audio data, since audio data are arranged under the same directory structure as that of image data, processing of discriminating data in the other format which is not a search target (for example, audio data when image data is a search target) and discarding the discriminated data is necessary when directory information is analyzed. This wastes time in search operation.
In addition, a similar problem arises when some kind of processing is to be performed for either image data or audio data.
Furthermore, although the main application of a recording/playback apparatus such as a digital camera is to record and play back image data, overhead occurs due to mixing of unnecessary data such as audio data at the time of search of image data, resulting in a delay of the start of recording/playback operation.
The number of electronic apparatuses using detachable recording media, e.g., digital cameras, has recently been on the increase. Digital cameras are generally configured to record sensed images and recorded sounds as data files in recording media. If, therefore, the remaining capacity of an attached recording medium becomes insufficient, already recorded data files need to be erased to record data in the recording medium. In general, as erasure methods, a method of selectively erasing data files and a method of collectively erasing data files are provided. Such an apparatus is equipped with a function of formatting (initializing) a recording medium as a means for collectively erasing all files.
Formatting is generally processing which cannot be undone. If this processing is accidentally performed, all files are lost. In general, therefore, confirmation or warning is issued at the time of execution. For example, in reference “Camera User's Guide for Canon Digital Camera PowerShotA95 from Canon Inc”, 2004, p. 20, a currently used data size with respect to the total capacity of a recording medium is written together with the formatting function equipped in a digital camera, and there is written a warning that when formatting is executed, the displayed amount of data will be erased.
According to the above technique, a user can understand the currently used data size in a recording medium. However, the user cannot obtain information for each file type in an apparatus which can generate different types of data files including still image files, moving image files, and audio files, e.g., a digital camera.
There is also available an apparatus which has a plurality of browse modes corresponding to file types, e.g., a mode of browsing images such as still and moving images and a mode of browsing only audio data. When a recording medium is to be formatted in such an apparatus, the user cannot know the data amount of files or the number of files which are browsed only in a mode different from the currently used mode. For example, in an apparatus having an image browse mode and an audio browse mode, when a recording medium is to be formatted during the image browse mode, the user is to format the recording medium without knowing the total number of audio files. That is, the user has to delete all files including audio files without knowing the data amount or number of audio files.